Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Janasena Party leader, Pawan Kalyan, announced on Saturday that he will embark on an 11-day penance to seek divine intervention following allegations of animal fats being used in the famous Tirupati laddus.
The penance will take place at the Sri Dasavatara Venkateswara Swamy temple in Namburu, Guntur district.
In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), the actor-politician said, “After continuing the initiation for 11 days, I will visit Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Swamy. I beg ‘God…give me the power to wash away the sins committed by past rulers against you.”
Kalyan added that he is praying for the strength to carry out a ritual purification, aimed at addressing the alleged wrongdoings by the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government.
The claims originated from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who, during a recent NDA meeting, accused the former YSRCP government of using low-quality ingredients, including animal fats, in the preparation of the much-loved Tirupati laddus. These allegations have triggered widespread public outrage.
Kalyan also slammed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), questioning how its employees and board members could have been unaware of such irregularities. TTD is responsible for managing the revered Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.
KMF installs GPS on gee supply vehicles for TTD
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has installed geo-positioning systems on its vehicles delivering ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in response to concerns over substandard ghee used in Tirupati laddus, a top official announced on Saturday.
KMF Managing Director M K Jagadish confirmed that the supply of Nandini ghee, the federation’s popular brand, was reinstated after TTD awarded a tender to KMF a month ago.
“We restored the supply of ghee (to TTD) a month ago. We have installed the GPS system and Geo Location Devices on the vehicles so that we can find out where they stop. This is to ensure that no where adulteration happens,” Jagadish told PTI.
He added that KMF has contracted to supply 350 tonnes of ghee and will provide it as needed.